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Raqqa

Located on the left bank of the Euphrates between Aleppo (188 km) and Deir
al-Zor (105 km).It is an ancient city built by Alexander the Great in the
4th century B.C.In 662 the Caliph Mansur built, on the ruins of Raqqa, a
new city imiting the style of Baghdad which he called 'Rafiqa'. This is a
new city that rose up out of the sand.It was inaugurated by President Hafez
al-Assad in 1973.Al-Thawra, 'the Revolution', is the capital of the area
of the Euphrate dam.

Raqqa city, the center of Raqqa Muhafazet, is located in this plain between
the Euphrates and its subsidiary Baleikh river in Al-Jazirah region. Its
locations near the crossroads of the Euphrates basin qualified it to become
a vital commercial center for the collection of crops, commodity, exchange
and export. Above all this city was a center for the emergence of civilization
and human gathering since the earliest stage of history. French Archeologist
Maurice Davan said that Raqqa was inhabited by human beings in all stags
of history. There are ruins in Raqqa plain which prove that the area was
inhabited by the man of stone ages (6000-3000 B.C.)

But Raqqa Hellenic city which was built by Seleucus under the name (Nicoforium)
goes back o the year ( 300-100 B.C.) The Roman-built Raqqa is located east
of Baghdad gate district of the todays city and goes back to the first,
second and third centuries A.D. Then there is the Byzantine-built Raqqa which
existed during the third and the fourth centuries A.D. in the eighth century,
the Abbassite calif Abu Jafaar Al-Mansour built the Raqqa of the Abbassites.
Then it became Al-Rasheed city and was extended to the north and east in
the ninth century.

Raqqa is one of the most important centers of Arab and plated glass as well
as engraved bricks.

The most important landmarks of the city area its historical wall (5 km),
Baghdad gate, the minaret of Al-Rafika Mosque and the ruins of Al-Raqqa Abbassite
Palace of Hercula were discovered later.

Originally built
by Alexander the Great, who called the site "Nicephorion", but nothing remained
of it or of the "callinicos" of the Roman. As the Persians several times
fought the Byzantines here, nothing has become down to us of Christian Raqqa.
In 722, the Abbassid Caliph Al-Mansour founded a new city, "Al-Rafika", which
quickly eclipsed ancient Raqqa, but in the 18th century, the Mongols laid
waste the rich city. Raqqa is most famous as the summer resort of the Caliph
Harun Ar-Rashid, of the Thousand and One Nights, who built his magnificent
palace here, still standing today.

For its part, the Syrian department of Antiquities has started to uncover
the remains of the palaces which were among the favorite residences of the
Abbacies in the 9th century.

The principal remains are to the south-east of the present-day town, more
or less on a line with the downstream bridge. A huge quadrilateral area,
forming a shaded walk, bounds an ancient mosque which is revealed by a succession
of archways and by a cylindrical minaret built of brick standing on abase
of ancient stones. A few hundred yards further on, ramparts flanked by a
big corner tower trace the shape of a horseshoe, illustrating the avowed
intention of Al Mansour to build Al Rafiqa on the pattern of the circular
plan of Baghdad. A copy also of the architecture then common in Baghdad,
with a monumental doorway in baked brick surmounted by a series of small
columns and niches with iwans, decorated in a very simple manner by staggering
the positions of the bricks in relation to one another. All the rest round
about is nothing but shapeless ruins apart, that is, from the recently discovered
and restored Qasr al Banat (Palace of the Girls) A regional museum exhibiting
regional collections found during recent excavations is open to the public.

One must visit the marvelous Baghdad Gate, the impressive
city walls, the Mosque of Nur Eddin built in 1166, AD, and the new Raqqa
Museum.

For its part, the Syrian department of Antiquities has started to uncover
the remains of the palaces which were among the favorite residences of the
Abbacies in the 9th century.

The principal remains are to the south-east of the present-day town, more
or less on a line with the downstream bridge. A huge quadrilateral area,
forming a shaded walk, bounds an ancient mosque which is revealed by a succession
of archways and by a cylindrical minaret built of brick standing on abase
of ancient stones. A few hundred yards further on, ramparts flanked by a
big corner tower trace the shape of a horseshoe, illustrating the avowed
intention of Al Mansour to build Al Rafiqa on the pattern of the circular
plan of Baghdad. A copy also of the architecture then common in Baghdad,
with a monumental doorway in baked brick surmounted by a series of small
columns and niches with iwans, decorated in a very simple manner by staggering
the positions of the bricks in relation to one another. All the rest round
about is nothing but shapeless ruins apart, that is, from the recently discovered
and restored Qasr al Banat (Palace of the Girls) A regional museum exhibiting
regional collections found during recent excavations is open to the public.

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